The two-time defending-champion Florida Everblades will take on the Orlando Solar Bears in the South Division Finals of the 2024 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs.

In the opening round of the playoffs, Florida downed the Jacksonville Icemen 4-3 in the best-of-seven series, and Orlando topped the Greenville Swamp Rabbits 4-2.

The North Division Finals will feature the Adirondack Thunder and Norfolk Admirals, the Central Division Finals will include the Toledo Walleye and Wheeling Nailers, and the Mountain Division Finals will see the Kansas City Mavericks face the Idaho Steelheads.

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South Division Finals

No. 3 Florida Everblades (40-23-9) Vs. No. 4 Orlando Solar Bears (38-24-10)

Game 1 - Friday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Florida
Game 2 - Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. ET at Florida
Game 3 - Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m. ET at Orlando
Game 4 - Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. ET at Orlando
Game 5 – Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m. ET at Orlando (If Necessary)
Game 6 – Tuesday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Florida (If Necessary)
Game 7 – Wednesday, May 15 at 7:10 p.m. ET at Florida (If Necessary)

Florida And Orlando Top Scorers

Florida’s Oliver Chau had 26 goals and 60 points in the regular season, and Sean Josling has three goals and six points in the playoffs; Orlando’s Brayden Low had 23 goals and 49 points, and Aaron Luchuk had 22 goals and 49 points, during regular season, and Spencer Kersten has six goals and eight points in the playoffs.

What You Need To Know About The Florida Everblades

What the Everblades have done over the last three seasons is incredible. They won the Kelly Cup in 2022. In 2023, they won it again, but did so as an underdog in every playoff series. 

Now, after a regular season of rebuilding the roster on the fly, they’ve pulled another upset – of the Icemen, who squandered a 3-1 series lead – and the Everblades just seem to defy reason at times.

It helps that the Everblades have a goaltender like Cam Johnson, who is just so, so good in big games. The Playoff MVP in 2022 and 2023, Johnson had 27 saves in Wednesdays 4-0 road victory in Game 7, outdueling rookie goalie Matt Vernon and his 26 saves on 30 shots.

It helps that the Everblades have the ECHL’s best coach, Brad Ralph. At some point, an AHL team has to take notice of what he’s been doing at this level, right? And not just with the Xs and Os; the late-season signing of Josh Ho-Sang and the trade-deadline acquisitions of Matthew Wedman and Zach Berzolla are paying huge dividends.

It also helps that the Icemen were missing some big guns, such as Brendan Harris and Riley Fiddler-Schultz, and their offense fizzled. But experience matters so much, and players such as Joe Pendenza, Logan Lambdin and Sean Josling have it for Florida.

What You Need To Know About The Orlando Solar Bears

Before you start thinking the Everblades are the only team of destiny, let’s talk about the Solar Bears, who scrapped their way to get into the playoffs – going 9-2-2 over their last 13 games – after missing the postseason altogether in 2023. 

Then, the Solar Bears walloped the division champions, getting overtime victories in Games 1, 3 and 5, the most breathtaking coming in Game 5 when they trailed by two goals in the third period, before Jesse Jacques and Luchuk scored, setting up Low’s winner.

Orlando has been the most fun team to watch in these playoffs, not just because of the exciting finishes; they’ve had good goaltending from Evan Fitzpatrick, are willing to bring some physical play and get scoring from a lot of sources.

Of the teams still in the playoffs, Orlando was the team I overlooked the most in my FloHockey rankings – they were in the top 10 only three out of the 13 rankings posted, and I dropped them as low as 17th in mid-February. I was wrong.

There’s no one thing they do that’s exceptional – the offense ranks fifth (3.17 goals per game), the defense eighth (2.67 goals against per game), the power play eighth (17.6%) and the penalty kill 14th (75%) – but there’s something about them when the game is on the line that’s tough to argue with.

Two Players To Watch In Florida-Orlando Series

I can’t imagine I was alone in some skepticism about what Josh Ho-Sang would bring to Florida. 

A first-round pick of the New York Islanders in 2014, Ho-Sang is showing he’s still got plenty in the tank with two goals and 19 points in 18 games, including four assists in the playoffs. 

At times, he’s still electric; a Game 6 setup of a Cole Moberg goal, during which Ho-Sang established the offensive zone, eluded two defenders and left a drop pass, is the proof. 

He’s been on a line with Wedman and Oliver Chau and, well, that’s an AHL-caliber line right there.

Orlando’s Spencer Kersten is a great example of something seen in the ECHL often: a player who put up good numbers in college explodes offensively because his role, and the way the game is played, has changed. 

Kersten, who had nine goals and 16 points in 36 games this season for Bowling Green, has eight goals and 14 points in 16 games since then, including six playoff goals with a shooting percentage of 33.3%. He’s opportunistic and has been feasting on a line with Alex Frye and Darik Angeli.

X-Factor For Florida-Orlando Series

Orlando goaltender Evan Fitzpatrick.

He has played in 22 of the last 23 games, and he’s got a .929 save percentage in the playoffs. 

He was a little sporadic, giving up 14 goals in Games 2, 4 and 5, combined, but in the other games, whew. There was a 43-save shutout in a 1-0 overtime victory to start the series, then a 32-save effort in a 2-1 overtime victory for a 2-1 series lead. In the clincher, he stopped 46 shots in a 5-1 victory.

I have no doubts about Florida’s goaltending, so the series could hinge upon Fitzpatrick’s ability to steal games against an offense more formidable than Greenville’s. 

For added intrigue, there’s this: Fitzpatrick played 17 games last season for the Everblades, alongside Johnson, and will have extra familiarity with some of the shooters and insight into the systems. But the Everblades know him, too, what makes him tick and what types of goals he allows, so who gets the advantage here is tough to gauge.

Florida Everblades Vs. Orlando Solar Bears Prediction

With two never-say-die teams, this series looks as if it’ll go the distance. 

And home-ice advantage will be significant for the Everblades, who really showed their savvy by outscoring the Icemen – my preseason Kelly Cup pick – 11-2 over the last three games. 

Orlando has the tools to win this series – the savvy of Luchuk and energy of Low aren’t discussed enough – but it’s tough to bet against Johnson when he’s playing as he has been. So, Everblades win in seven games.

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